Gibbs's Daughter.

Searching the Apartment

I hop into my car and backed out. I headed to the victim's apartment to search through it again. Tony drove somewhere else for some unknown reason. The attitude that I had received from him was shocking to me. I had done absolutely nothing to deserve it. When he shows up to the apartment, I'll ask about it. It took me thirty minutes to arrive at the apartment. I got out and grabbed my kit and headed to the front door. A security guard stopped me. "I'll need some identification" he said. I nodded and got my badge out and showed it to him. "I'm Agent Gibbs from NCIS" I said. He nodded and opened the door for me. I thanked him and walked in. I stepped into the elevator and rode it up to floor ten. Soon, I entered his apartment. I set down my kit and extracted my gloves. I slipped them on and began to search. I started in the kitchen. It was a decent size. I opened the fridge and just saw milk, eggs, and bread. Other than that it was empty. I moved on to the cupboards. Just like the fridge, it was mostly bare except for two boxes of cereal. Both Honey Nut Cheerios. If he had lived here, you would think there would be more food and drinks in the fridge and cupboards. I checked every spot on the wall for a hidden compartment but still nothing. I moved on to the living room. 

There was one chair facing one coffee table with a glass top and a TV mounted on the wall. The TV remote was on the coffee table. I started with the couch. I took off the cushions and saw nothing. I unzipped the cushions and looked through the fluff inside and still nothing. I searched the coffee table to see if it was hiding something and still came up with nothing. I grabbed the TV remote and turned the TV on to see what he was watching and it wouldn't come on. I flipped the remote over and opened the slot for the batteries. It was revealed that there were no batteries in it. I set it down and walked over to the TV. I looked behind the TV and saw that it wasn't connected to anything. I walked over to the trash can and opened it. Not a single piece of trash was in it. "Where is everything?" I asked myself. I looked at the clock. I've been here for half an hour already and Tony still wasn't here. I shook my head in disbelief. I grabbed my camera and snapped pictures of the kitchen and the living room. I headed into the bedroom. 

It was immaculate. There was no mess, no trash anywhere. I snapped a picture. I opened the dresser drawers and saw no clothes in any of the drawers. I snapped a picture of each. I checked for a hidden space underneath the bottoms and nothing. I took the drawers out and looked at the bottom and still nothing. Another picture was taken. I moved over to the closet and again, nothing. I snapped a picture. I went inch by inch looking from anything and came up with zilch. I moved to the bed and searched through the pillows(nothing), the sheets(nothing), underneath the mattress(nothing), and underneath the bed(nothing). I checked the entire room inch by inch just to make sure I didn't miss anything and came up with the same result, nothing. I went into the last room which was the bathroom. I opened up the medicine cabinet and nothing there.  No toothbrush, no mouthwash, no toothpaste, and no kind of medicine. I took pictures everywhere. Again, I went inch  by inch to locate any secret places. I still came up with nothing. I walked back into the entryway where I left my kit. I put my camera back. I looked at the time. It's been an hour and a half and Tony still wasn't here and I hadn't received any texts or calls from him. I sighed in frustration. I dialed his number and hit enter.

The phone rang and rang until he picked up. "What do you want now Jess?" he snapped. "One, I am here at the victim's apartment where you are also supposed to be. Two, I had to search this whole apartment by myself because you can't be bothered to do your job. Three, I have been receiving attitude from you all day for no reason. So, unless you are going to tell me what the hell is wrong with you and an apology for ditching me, I'm going to go back to headquarters and give my report. Thank you for nothing" I snapped back and hung up. I grabbed my kit and locked up the apartment before heading back to my car. I climbed in and my phone rang. It was Tony. I debated answering it or ignoring it. I answered. "What do you want?" I asked. "I'm sorry" he said. I laughed. "If that's what you call an acceptable apology for  the countless things you did wrong to me is laughable. You're going to have to do better than that and it will not be given over the phone" I said and hung up. I started my car and began the drive back. I put the radio which made the time go by. Thirty minutes were over and I was parked again. I saw Tony walking toward me. I got out and locked the door and was heading inside. "Jess!! Wait!" he called. I waited and he caught up. He seemed out of breath. "That little run winded you? You should exercise more" I said. He chuckled. "I'm sorry, Jess. Really I am. I should have told you where I was going and I shouldn't have given you attitude. I'm just dealing with something personal and I took it out on you" Tony apologized. 

I looked at him for a few seconds. "What's going on?" I asked. Tony looked down and sighed. "My father is back in town" Tony said. I nodded. "He's a handful for you?" I asked. He chuckled and nodded. I pulled Tony in for a hug. "I forgive you. Just next time, just talk to me. I'll help you and if needed, I'll cover for you" I said. He smiled. We walked into the building and into the elevator. I filled him in on what I saw and what was lacking. "I think I found what we were missing" I said. We walked into the bullpen and stopped in front of dad's desk. He looked up. "We found nothing in his apartment. No clothes, no toothbrush, not even one single piece of trash. He didn't live there" I reported. Tony stood next to me and had his hand resting in the middle of my back. "Comb through his financials again. We must have missed something" he ordered. Tony went back to his desk. I still stood in front of dad. He looked up at me, curious. "Got a problem?" he asked. "No, just a thought. He sells the teddy bears and the money goes into his account. What if he pays cash for the place that he actually lives in?" I asked. Dad thought about it and nodded. "Tony, check to see if there were any withdrawals" Dad spoke. "Yes boss" he said and started typing away at his computer. I walked back to my desk and started typing away too. 

"Got it boss" Tony said and grabbed the clicker. He stood up and walked over to the screen. I did the same. I stood on his left side and his left hand rested in the middle of my back. He clicked and five lines were highlighted. It showed the dates, times, and how much money was withdrawn. "Five times a big sum of cash was withdrawn" Tony said. "Good Job Tony" dad said. Tony smiled and looked down at me. I smiled back. "It was Jess's idea" Tony said. "Good job Jess" Dad said. I smiled. "Dig. Find out where he could have been staying that costs half a million dollars in rent" dad ordered. We all nodded and went back to our desks to get to work. We all sat there, typing away, for hours trying to find an answer to our question. Hours had gone by and now it was dark out. I yawned and stretched my arms. "All right. Get out of here. Get something to eat and go home. Start back up tomorrow morning" dad said. We all got up and grabbed our bags. I started to walk to the elevator and Tony jogged up to me. "Want to get dinner with me?" Tony asked. I smirked at him. "Are you asking me on a date, Tony DiNozzo?" I asked. He smiled. "Maybe I am" he replied. "Well, in case that you are, then yes, I'll get dinner with you" I said, smiling. "Let's go then" he said.